Blumenthal



Oct. 4, 1955 H. BLUMENTHAL TRAFFIC CONE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 22, 1952 INVEN TOR. HERMAN BLUMENTHAL FIG.

ATTORNEY Oct. 4, 1955 H. BLUMENTHAL TRAFFIC CONE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 22, 1952 FIG. 3

INVENTOR. HERMAN BLUMENTHAL.

ATTORNEY United States Patent TRAFFIC CONE Herman Blumenthal, Charlotte, N. (1., assignor to Radiator Specialty Company, Charlotte, N. C., a corporation of North Carolina Application January 22, 1952, Serial No. 267,576

2 Claims. (Cl. 116-63) This invention relates to traflic control devices and more particularly to a readily portable marker especially designed for use as an effective means for controlling or guiding vehicular traflic into predetermined paths of travel.

Present day practices provide generally for the marking of lanes of travel upon roads or highways and the overall safety of travel by motor vehicle has been much increased thereby. Usually such markings take the form of painted or otherwise produced guide lines and in many instances reflectors or reflective surfaces have been included or imbedded in such guide lines.

Thus, the motorist may travel at relatively great speeds and in predetermined paths or lanes with a substantial degree of safety.

However, where unusual conditions or hazards require diversion of trafliic temporarily, as during the painting of the guide lines referred to, or by reason of road repair, or the necessity for the specific control of trafiic by reason of other unusual conditions, it is customary to erect a barricade of one sort or another with appropriate legends thereon to warn motorists of the hazard being approached and to include direction as to the traffic diversion or control required.

Such barricades, through the very nature thereof, are inherently dangerous. A heedless motorist, striking such a barricade, may demolish it, thus leaving subsequent travellers in a condition of peril. Where such an extreme situation does not develop, inadvertent damage results to barricade and motor vehicle since barricades of these descriptive properties are inflexible, statistics disclosing that tremendous sums are spent annually in repairing and replacing damaged barricades of this character. More important, over and above the property damage referred to, personal injury and loss of life have resulted from accidents following damage to or malicious removal of barricades of this nature.

It has heretofore been proposed, in an effort to eliminate the dangers inherent to the use of physical barricades, to provide resilient trafiic markers, which may or may not have the appearance of a rigid and metallic obstacle. Generally, markers of this character have been employed to protect freshly painted guide lines, the markers being positioned so as to straddle such guide lines and prevent motor vehicles passing thereover until the line will have dried, whereupon the markers are removed. Even for such a purpose, markers of this character have failed to achieve fully the ends desired. A motor vehicle, striking such a resilient marker, is not damaged, nor is injury inflicted upon the marker, however, even an inadvertent and relatively minor blow from the bumper or wheel of a motor vehicle will displace such a marker, generally of conical form, either moving the marker into a lane of trailic which is thus disrupted, or overturning the marker into a lane of moving trafiic where repeated crushing under the wheels of motor vehicles results in destruction of the marker.

For identical reasons, elforts to use such markers to ice divert traffic, as from one highway or lane into another,

have been unsuccessful. While use of this character, where relatively slow notice and warning may be given to motorists of approaching conditions, is vastly superior to the use of a rigid barricade, where there may be no prior notice, efforts along such lines have proven unsuccessful because of the susceptibility of such markers to ready displacement.

It has been proposed to use resilient markers of the character with which we are here concerned in fixed relationship to the road or highway. However, with such permanent installation, the life of resilient markers has been found to be particularly brief and, moreover, the issue of permanent installation is in direct opposition to the generally temporary uses to which such markers are placed.

Accordingly, it is a major object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved marker of the character with which we are presently concerned which will be easily portable and may be placed conveniently in any desired location.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a traflic control device or marker manufactured from resilient material and so constructed that the possibility of inadvertent displacement thereof as by an impact or the like is substantially obviated.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel and improved trafiic marker so constructed as to have a normal upright position with little likelihood of the overturning thereof though lateral impact.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a novel traflic control marker manufactured from resilient material and so constructed that, if overturned by an impact or the like, the possibility of extensive lateral displacement is substantially obviated.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved trafiic marker of the class with which we are presently concerned which may be conveniently and economically manufactured from inexpensive materials, which will be attractive in appearance, and which will be strong and durable.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a portion of a road or highway and surrounding terrain, moving vehicular traffic on such road being controlled by trafiic markers constructed in accordance with the present invention, two of such markers being overturned;

Fig. 2, a perspective view of a traffic control device or marker constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 3, a top plan view of the novel traffic marker; and

Fig. 4, a vertical sectional view, taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

As shown in the drawings, the novel traflic control device comprises a hollow and elongated body portion 10 provided with a relatively fiat base portion 11 of substantially square peripheral configuration. Desirably the base portion 11 is of a size substantially in excess of the maximum diameter of the body portion and comprises a thickened flange of substantially increased weight, consideration being given to the thickness of the material of the body portion, whereby the marker is provided with a substantial degree of inherent stability, the center of gravity of the marker lying substantially within the base portion. Thus, the marker cannot be overturned readily, such displacement requiring either a force of a velocity sufiicient to lift the base from the ground or other supporting surface or an angular deviation of the vertical axis of the base to a substantially horizontal position.

Preferably the body comprises a relatively thinwalled structure of hollow or tubular conformation, tapering outwardly from top to bottom, and molded from suitable plastic and resilient material such as rubber, or thelike. However, such tapering form is not essential to the instant invention, the prime requisite of the body portion being that the walls thereof be readily collapsible under impact or pressure, Whether from a motor vehicle or by being run over by the wheels of a vehicle, the inherent resiliency of the material from which this body portion is molded being such as to insure the return thereof to normal upright form following the removal of the force of impact.

Desirably, base 11 and upright body portion 10 may be molded as a unitary, integral structure, however, if desired, the base may be formed separately and secured in any manner to the lower extremity of the body portion, as is well known in the plastics art. For purposes of economy in manufacture as well as strength and durability in the finished article, it is preferred to mold base and body portion as a unitary device.

As previously stated, the preferred configuration of the base 11 is square and of a size substantially in excess of the largest diameter of the body portion 10 Which may be conical and thus circular in cross sectional conformation.

As illustrated, the base 11 comprises an outer and thickened annular wall or portion 12 and an inner or intermediate portion 13' of lesser thickness, uniting the body portion 10 and peripheral wall portion 12. For purposes of strengthening the union between the lower extremity body portion 10 and the intermediate portion 13, a plurality of radially disposed integral ribs 14 may be provided, the extremities of these radial 'Iibs merging into the inner surfaces of the body portion 10 and peripheral wall 12, respectively.

Desirably the periphery 15 of the base 11 may be provided with an outwardly tapered portion 16 whereby the transverse diameter of the base is greater at its lower portion or edge than at the upper surface thereof. In addition, the base is provided with a plurality of relatively small supporting posts or feet 17 for providing positive contact with a roadway or other supporting surface. Four of such feet have been illustrated, one being located adjacent each corner of the base. These supporting posts serve the additional function, when a plurality of trafiic markers are stacked with the conical body portions in surrounding relationship with respect to each other, of preventing contact engagement between the upper surface of the base of one marker and the lower surface of the marker stacked thereabove, thus, ready separation of stacked markers is facilitated.

There has been illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings a portion of a street or roadway, disclosing the use of trafiic markers constructed in accordance with the instant invention to divert vehicular tralfic out of the center lane of a three lane trafiic artery, thereby protecting the central portion of a cross walk by creating a safety zone therein. As illustrated, the roadway R is marked with two guide lines L defining three tralfic lanes, motor vehicles M1 and M2 being disclosed as proceeding in opposite directions toward the cross-walk C. A plurality of trafiic markers have been positioned in a line which starts on one guide line L and terminates on the other guide line, the intermediate portion of this line being of concavo-convex conformation and crossing the central trafiic lane. The motor vehicle M1 is in the process of being diverted from the center lane and is entering the outer lane; similarly, the motor vehicle M2 is travelling in the center lane and is about to be diverted into the opposite outer lane. ,The crosswalk C is fr eefor pedestrian trafiic and the center portion thereof, i. e. the portion in the central lane, is substantially protected against the entry of vehicular traffic by the positioning of the traffic control devices.

It will be noted that two of the trafiic control devices immediately adjacent one side of the cross-walk C have been displaced from a desired, erect position. However, the square, relatively heavy and enlarged bases of these markers has prevented any substantial degree of lateral displacement or movement from the intended positioning of these two markers and thus, even with this displacement, diversion of traffic in the manner intended has not been interfered with.

It has been found in practice that where traffic markers of the character with which we are here concerned are manufactured with base portions of circular configuration, upon displacement following impact, such markers tend to roll and finally come to rest at a point sufficiently remote from the point of origin that such displaced markers cannot serve the purpose for which intended. This difficulty and objectionable feature has been obviated by the instant inventive concept. The square, enlarged and heavy base with careful calculation of center of gravity necessitates a particularly servere impact for the overturning of a marker and, when so overturned, unless the force of impact is received immediately at the level of the supporting surface, the markerwill come to rest on its side immediately, without any possibility or likelihood of lateral movement from the point where originally positioned.

There has thus been described a novel traffic control device manufactured from resilient material and having a thin-walled upper body portionsusceptible of ready temporary deformation upon impact and capable of immediate return to original shape upon relief'of stress. The device is remarkably stable, having a center of gravity located substantially adjacent an enlarged and square base portion whereby, if the device is overturned, substantial lateral displacement is effectively prevented. The marker preferably is an integral, molded structure susceptible of convenient and economic manufacture from inexpensive materials, is attractive in appearance and particularly strong and durable.

It will be obvious to those skilled in this art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not considered restricted by that which is illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification but only as'illustrated in the appended claims;

What is claimed is:

1. A traflic marker comprising an outwardly and downwardly tapered molded hollow body having relatively thin resilient wall structure, an outwardly extending base integral with the bottom of said body and having a polygonal shape bounded by substantially straight sides, said base being of substantiall greater size than the greatest crosssectional area of said body and further being 'of substantial thickness and weight whereby the center of gravity of the marker is located substantially within said base, said base having a peripheral wall and an intermediate top portion joining said peripheral wall to said body, and a plurality of supporting feet mounted on the lower surface of said base and located near the joints between the sides of said base, said feet being adapted to support said base portion above a supporting surface.

2. A traffic marker comprising an outwardly and downwardly tapered molded hollow body having relatively thin resilient wall structure, an outwardly extendingbase integral with the bottom of said body and having a polygonal shape bounded by substantially straight sides, said base being of substantially greater size than the greatest crosssectional area of said body and further being of substantial thickness and weight whereby the center of gravity of the marker is located substantially within said base, said base having a peripheral wall and an intermediate top portion joiningsaid peripheral wall to said-body, and a plurality of supporting feet mounted on the lower surface of said base and located near the joints between the sides of said base, said feet being adapted to support said base portion above a supporting surface, said intermediate portion being substantially thinner than said peripheral Wall, and reinforcing ribs extending from beneath said intermediate portion to the inside of said peripheral wall radially in relation to said body.

1,337,947 OToole Apr. 20, 1920 6 Schleicher Apr. 2, 1929 Scharf Sept. 2, 1941 Scanlon Nov. 2, 1943 Neal Oct. 4, 1949 Ford July 17, 1951 

